Elevator.



PATENTED GOT. 9, 1906.

J. J. FISCHER.

ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l. V

UNITED srAfrns, PATENT orrron.

JOSEPH J. FISCHER, or BELLEPLAINE, MINNESOTA.

ELEVATOR.

Naseaosa To-(tll whom, iii-(151 concern:

Be it known'that l, J osnrn-v J FISCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belleplain'e, in the county of Scott and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to elevators; and its object is to'provide a device of this character adapted to be used upon stairways for the purpose of lowering ba rels and other heavy articles into cellars, etc.

Astill further object is to rovide an elevator which may be portab e and can be utilized for unloading railway-cars and for various other purposes.

-Whichare mounted runners which A still further object is to provide means whereby the-operation of the elevator can be under the direct control of the o erator, so

that the speed of the descent of t e carriage can be regulated and said carriage can be brought to a quick stop, if desired.

A still further object is the provision of an elevator which will not interfere with the use of the steps to which it is connected.

- With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of guide-rails, between support a carriage shaped to hold articles placed thereon, said carriage being also'formed with a platform on which theoperator may ride, if desired. ,The carriageis connected to enclless chains or belts, which are mounted on sprockets or pulleysdisposed adjacent the ends of the rails, and the rotation of these devices is controlled by a wei ht or spring, which is adapted to hold the carriage nor- ,mally in positionat the upper ends of the rails. Said springs or Weights, however,

will be .overbalanced by -any articles placed upon the carriage, and by loadingthe carriagethe same will move downward automatically and tension the sprin s or raise the ,weight, and after the carriage as been un- 10a ed upon reaching its lowered position the springs or weights will return it to its initial position to receive another load. A

brake of novel form is provided for regulating the movement of the carriage.

, The invention also consists of certain o'her novel features of construction and combmations of parts, which will be hereinafter more hilly described, and pointedout in the claims. in the accompanying, drawings is shown the preferred formof the invention.

In saiddrawings, Figure 1' is a side eleva- Patehtedoct. 9,1906.

tion ofthe device, a portion of one of the rails beingbroken away to show the carriage in end elevation, said carriage being shown partly lowered. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the other side of the device, a portion thereof being'broken away to show the supporting means in section. Fig; 3 Fig. 4 is a transverse section through a part of the device and showing the adjustable supporting-yoke. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the lower portion of the device,- the same being provided with modified carriage-actuating means; and Flg. 6 1s a longitudinal I I I o l v modified form of device.

section throne-h the lower portion of another},

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 1 are side beams, between which are dlsposod steps 2, and a cross-strlp 3 con.-

. nects the side beams at a point adjacent their centers and has a rotatable screw-threaded stein 4 swiveled therein and threaded into a yoke 5, which is supported by an axle 6, having wheels 7 thereon. Braces 8 connect the side beamswith the axle, so as to form, with the yoke, a rigid but adjustable support for the device. Rollers 9 areinounted in the lower ends of the side beams and operate,in conjunction with the wheels 7, to facilitate the movement of the elevator from place to place.

A shaft 10, is journalod within the lower ends of the side beams, and secured to this shaft close to the inner face of each of said beams is a sprocket 1 1. A disk 12 is secured is a plan view.

to the shaft near one end thereof, and adj acent the outer face of we of the beams 1 and rotatable with this disk is a toothed wheel 13, adapted to be engaged by a finger 14, extending from a lever 15. A spring 16 is connected to this lever and-to one of the side beams for the purpose of holding the finger normally projected into th a path of the wheel 13. A brake-shoe 17 is formed at one end of the lever and is adapted to be swung into contact with the periphery of the disk 12. An actuating-lever 18 is fulcrumed adjacent the upper end of one of the beams 1 and is connected by means of a rod 0 1- cable 1 9 with the lever 15, and by swinging the lever 18 in one direction the finger 14 can be swung out of the path of the wheel 13, and by continuing the movement of said lever 18 theshoe 17' can be pressedinto contact with the periphery of the disk 12. A spring 20 is coiled about and secured to one end of the shaft 10, and its other end is secured to a fixed part'of the elerob vator, and this spring serves to control the rotation of the shaft.

Extending around each sprocket 11 is an endless chain 21, which passes over" a sprocket -22, journaled upon a stud 23, extending inward from the upperportion of the device. In order that all portions of the chain may be held out of contact with the-steps, an idler 24 -is"mounted on the side beamadjacent the lower sprocket 11 and constitutes a support for the chain. This side beam has oppositelydis osed inverted-L-shaped rails 25 fastened to it and forming a slot be tweentheir adjoining edges, into which extend runners 26, the lower faces of which are rounded and recessed, so as to reduce friction to the minimum. The runners are secured to the ends of a carriage 27 having an extension 28 extending from its lower edge and supported by braces 29 at the ends thereof, said extension being provided with arms 30. A rearward extension 31 projects from the upper or rear.

edge of the carriage at the center thereofand constitutes a latform on which an operator may stand, i desired. The chains2l can be tightened in any desired manner. The lower ends of the rails 25 are curved down ward, so that when the carriage assumes a position thereabove it will be tilted, so as to dump therefrom any articles which maybe mounted thereon. The lowest step 3410f the flight is hinged, so that 'it can be swung upward in order to expose the'shaft 10.

Spring 20 is of sufficient strength to hold the carriage normally in position upon the upper ends of the rails, and the support of the carrier is adapted to be adjusted so as to -.possible to load heavy articles, such as bar rels, upon the carriage.

bring the upper step of the flight at a proper height to receive the articles to be conveyed downward. Finger 14 normally locks the carriage against downward movement, because the shaft 10 cannot rotate, and it is therefore When it is desired to lower said articles, the lever 18 is pulled backward, so as to withdraw the finger from the path of the wheel 13, and the weight of the articles on the platform will cause said carriage to slide downward on the rails and the operator canstand on the rearward extension 31, so that his weight will be added and the proper movement insured.

Instead of using a spring 20 for returning thecarriage after its contents have been dis-- I charged a standard 35 may be secured to one of the beams 1 and provided with a pulley 36 .on which a cable 37 may be placed. This cable is adapted to wind on-a drum 38, secured to shaft 10, and has a weight 39 at its free end, which has the sameeifect as the spring. I

If desired, the entire elevator can be'built upon a fixed stairway, in which event the construction would be similar to that shown and described, with the exception of course that the strip'3, stem 4, and yoke 5, together with the parts connected thereto, would be dispensed with. Where the elevator is connected in this manner a weighted cable 40 can be connected to a drum 41, secured to the shaft 10 directly under the lower step 34,

and said step can be swung upward on its hinges, so that access can be readily hadto the cable. It will of course be necessary to provide a hole under the stairs in which the sired, a cable could be extended over a pulley supported above the carrier in any preferred manner. 1

It will be obvious that the elevator herein described will be of considerable utility in lowering. barrels or boxes, 620., into cellars,

and by making it portable it will be found very desirable in unloading trunks and other articles from railway-cars at stations in. rural weighted cable 40 will hang, although, if dedistricts. A grip 42 is preferably slidably mounted on the cable 19 and is adapted to be grasped by the operator if he is moving ownward with the carriage, so that the movement of said carriage can be kept under control by him.

The preferred form of the invention has been set forth in the foregoing description but I do not limit myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advanta es thereof, and I therefore reserve the rig t to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is- 1. A carrier comprising. connected side beams, rails upon said beams and having downwardly-turned ends, a carria e slidably mounted between the rails, an resilient means for holding the carriage normally in position upon the upper portions of the rails.

2. In an elevator the combination with inclined side beams of a carriage mounted upon and adapted tomove longitudinally of the side beams, a spring-controlled shaft jour naled within the beams, and flexible connections between the shaft and the carriage, said carriage being held normally in position at the upper end of the side .beams.

3. In a carrier the combination with inclined side rails of a carriage movably mounted thereon adapted to travel longitudinally thereof, a shaft journaled within the beams,

endless flexible connections between the shaft and carriage, and means connected to the shaft for automatically moving the car-- riage from the lower to the upper end of the beams. r

4. In a carrier the combination with side beams having rails mounted thereon; of a carriage guided by said rails and upon the beams, a shaft journaled within the beams, flexible connections between the shaft and the carriage, means for automatically actuating the shaft toreturn the carriage to raised position after it has been lowered, and means i for controlling the rotation of the shaft.

. position after it has been lowere a spring controlled locking devlce for the shaft, and a 5. In a carrier the combination with side beams having rails mounted thereon; of a carriage guided by said rails and upon the beams, a shaft journaled Within the beams,

flexible connections between the shaft and the carriage, means for automatically actuating the shaft to return the C3JIh e to raised brake-shoe for controlling the rotation of the shaft after it has been unlocked.

6. In a carrier the combination with side beams having'guide-rails thereon; of a carriage mounted upon the beam and guided by the rails, a shaft journaled within the beams,

sprockets carried thereby. endless chains mounted on the sprockets and connected to the carriage, idlers engaging. the chains, means connected to the shaft for automatically rotating it to move the carriage to one end of the beams, and means for controlling the rotation of the shaft in either direction.

7-. A carrier comprising side beams, steps interposed therebetween, a carriage movably mounted on the beams, a shaft journaled within the beams, means movable with the shaft for actuating the carriage, means connected to the shaft for automatically rotating the same in one direction, and means for wheels carried by the supporting-beams, a-

shaft journaled within the side beams, a carriage mounted on said beams, flexible connections between the shaft and'carriage for transmitting motion to the carriage from either direction, means connected to the shaft for automatically moving the carriage upward when in lowered position, and manually-operated means for controlling the rotation of the shaft.

my own I have hereto afiixed m the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH J. FISCHER.

v signature in Witnesses W. H. WEIBELER, KATHERINE WEIBELER.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 

